154,000 Miles

New Windscreen

Had something flick up and hit the windscreen a few weeks ago. It contacted just under the n/s windscreen wiper blade, which I think is why it got cracked as the blade stopped it going anywhere, as I think otherwise it may have just glanced off. It was very loud so it was a surprise when the crack appeared.

Pain in the **** but at least I was covered by insurance, so only a small excess to pay to get it replaced.

Before

After

Nice man from Autoglass came to my work and fitted it in about half an hour.

152,442 Miles

Replaced the N/S ball joint.

Whilst there I also replaced both ARB droplinks and also front brake pads.

Guide: Volvo V70 D5 Auxiliary Belt, Idler and Tensioner Replacement

150,250 Miles

Whilst driving the other night, there was a noise of something clunking and rattling its way loose from the engine bay and the tell-tale sound of something being deposited on the road. Accompanying this was the loss of power steering, the battery light coming on and a message on the computer saying 'Electrical System Service Required'.

Without even looking it was obvious that a idler or tensioner had given up and disintegrated and left the vehicle, leaving me without alternator, A/C or power steering drive.

VERY luckily, it had not taken the timing belt out, which I have heard it can do on this car by getting snarled up. I managed to drive home without stopping. Steering was very heavy and I turned the lights out to minimise battery drain. Luckily, being a diesel, there's not a huge drain on the battery whilst driving.

Remains of idler

When I stopped, I had a look and the belt was just sitting in its normal position except it was just standing off all the pulleys, as it had of course lost its tension. There was nothing except the central hub of the bearing and bolt left where the idler was.

Fitted new belt, tensioner and idler the following day. See the little guide here.

149,791 Miles

Finally got round to having new tyres fitted; just as well, as the rear off-side was in a bad way. The tread was good (very good in fact) but the inner wall had almost a 100% circumferential crack in the outer skin.

I opted for Bridgestone Potenza RE050 tyres, which I ordered from and arranged fitting through Black Circles. As of writing, one day later, they certainly make a huge difference. Lovely, smooth, precise feeling is restored....well almost.

147,000 Miles

Since having the car back from the garage with the new front spring top seats, the handling has been better, but also unfortunately, a knock developed on the front offside, suspiciously sounding like a ball joint. Ball joints had been replaced less than a year ago, so this was obviously a tad annoying.

I jacked the car up a bit, then grabbed the wheel and yanked it too and fro and started to hear and detect a clunking noise. Putting my hand on the ball joint and yanking the wheel again, I could feel the play in the joint, so it was definitely gone.

141,000 Miles

Had a bad day. It was my father-in-law's funeral, so it was really not a good day...

As for the car...well, I had to drive a few people home, which involved a round trip of about 100 miles.

Firstly, on the side a well known, busy dual carriage way (the A1) I got a flat tyre, in the rear nearside. Odd, but there we are. The hole was easy to spot and fortunately in the main section of the tread so it was repairable. So half the journey was spent driving on the space saver.

Later in the journey, I had suspicions something wasn't right under the bonnet. I could feel vibrations from the engine (only slight) that weren't normally there, plus it was making a bit of a noise. Very subtle, but not normally there. Then suddenly there was a funny noise from the engine bay, front right area, and a dipped head light bulb blew.